NEIL KINNOCK’S daughter-in-law was yesterday attempting to mould a coalition after edging to victory to become Denmark’s first female Prime Minister.

Social Democratic leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 44, became the first woman to become Denmark’s Prime Minister-designate and immediately set about forming a united government from a scattered “red bloc” of ex-communists and pro-market liberals.

Her victory came after her alliance secured 92 seats and a narrow majority in the 179-seat Danish Folketing, ending a decade of centre-right rule.

Ms Thorning-Schmidt is the wife of former Labour leader Lord Kinnock’s son, Stephen. They married in the spring of 1996 after they met four years earlier while studying in Bruges, Belgium.

Yesterday, Lord Kinnock told the Western Mail that her victory was a “huge personal achievement” and a “terrific result for Denmark and for the rest of Europe”.

“She is hugely capable and she has strong common sense and some really progressive policies for justice and jobs in Denmark,” he said.

“She has the economic policies to build growth in Denmark in order to pull the country further away from recession, and so fulfil the policies she has committed to, especially for looking after vulnerable people in society, like the elderly and young people.”

But he also hit out at “grotesque political fiction” printed about his son Stephen, 41, who has endured rumours about his sexuality in the lead-up to the crunch vote, including headlines printed in national newspaper in Britain.

Rumours also suggested that the couple were separated – allegations that his wife flatly denied earlier this week, telling the Ekstra Bladet newspaper they were “not true”.

She added: “I cannot say anything about it. But it’s really uncomfortable, also for my family and my children. It’s so grotesque.’

And Lord Kinnock expressed anger about what he described as “complete fabrication”, adding: “There was a lot of bilge written about my son, and several attempts to destabilise her campaign with the most vicious forms of personal attack. It was really grotesque political fiction.”

He added: “They [newspapers] printed so-called rumours that Steve was gay – and on one level it is just so preposterous it is funny.

“But when you know it was intended as an effort to destabilise her campaign, it becomes much more serious.

“When you are up against garbage like that, the only way to respond is with a shrug and a smile. But I must say, the smile is a bit difficult when it is downright lies.”

The couple have two daughters, Johanna, 14, and Camilla, 11, who Ms Thorning-Schmidt lives with in a townhouse in northern Copenhagen, while Mr Kinnock is based in Switzerland as director of Europe and Central Asia for the World Economic Forum.

He is also former director of the British Council, heading its St Petersburg office in Russia, before a rapid deterioration in British-Russian relations forced its closure in January, 2008.

Ms Thorning-Schmidt’s win cut the influence of the Danish People’s Party, an anti-immigration group that had used its leverage in the legislature to clamp down on asylum-seekers, especially Muslims.

The outgoing government’s austerity measures also include gradually raising the retirement age by two years to 67 by 2020 and trimming benefit periods for the unemployed.

It said the measures were needed to safeguard the welfare system while balancing the budget. After years of surpluses, the government projects budget deficits of 3.8% of gross domestic product in 2011 and 4.6 % in 2012.

Ms Thorning-Schmidt told TV2 she aims to have a coalition government in place when parliament reconvenes on October 4.